1Senior Resident, Department of Forensic Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur
2Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Mysore Medical College & Research Institute, Mysore
3Professor & Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, Mysore Medical College & Research Institute, Mysore
Datura grows wild all over India. The seeds of the plant are highly toxic with hyoscine, hyoscyamine and atropine as the principle toxins. The alkaloids atropine and hyoscine are used for medicinal purposes like organophosphorous poisoning, etc. Its poisoning is mostly accidental. The use of this plant for suicidal and homicidal purposes is rare. We report a case of 38 year old lady who took datura seeds so as to end her life as she was getting frequent chest pain which was not getting relieved even after medications.
Datura, Atropine, Poisoning and suicide
